Yorkshire Playbills from the 18th Century

Digitised copies of the following 18th century playbills:

• Playbill for a performance for the benefit of Mr Wilkinson in York on Saturday 19th May, 1764, including the following: a concert of music, The Funeral, The Cries of London &c, Tragedy a la Mode or Lindamira in Tears, The Mayor of Garratt.
• Playbill for a performance in Wakefield on Tuesday 21st September, 1779, of The Recruiting Officer and The Camp, or A Trip to Cox Heath
• Playbill for a performance in Wakefield on Thursday 20th September, 1781, of The Lord of the Manor and The Mayor of Garratt
• Playbill for a performance in Scarborough on Thursday 7th October, 1784, of The Young Quaker or The Adventures of the Fair American, and All the World's A Stage, or The Butler in Buskins
• Playbill for a performance in Doncaster on Friday 21st October, 1791, of The Woodman and The Modern Antiques, or The Merry Mourners

These playbills were digitised as part of the York Playbills project, commencing in 2009. Within the City of York there are a number of collections of playbills which were published to accompany productions at theatres which were part of the 'York Circuit'. This initially included the York, Hull, Leeds, Wakefield, Doncaster and Pontefract Theatres. The oldest playbills, dating back to the mid-18th century, and collected by the antiquarian and bibliophile, Edward Hailstone (1818-1890), were bequeathed to the Dean and Chapter of York Minster and placed in the York Minster Library as part of what is now called the Hailstone Collection.